The latest news from Finsec’s unofficial weblog
Around 200 Finsec members from 26 South Island Westpac branches have signed a Collective Letter that raises serious concerns about staffing, targets, and the work culture in their region.
Westpac Union Councillors presented the petition to the bank at their regular meeting, and a joint investigative process has been established to examine members’ concerns.
The Gossip will keep you posted on any developments on this matter.
This week, Westpac announced that it was freezing wages for all staff on management agreements earning $70,000 and above. No Finsec members covered by our collective agreement are affected by the freeze.
Westpac Union Council Chair Maxine Mullen says that the arrangement shows how essential being part of Finsec is for protecting pay and conditions.
“A wage freeze cannot be imposed upon Finsec members on the collective agreement,” said Maxine “The bank has to negotiate in good faith with us.”
“In negotiations we will be reminding Westpac of the fact the bank is still highly profitable. They can afford to keep us in work, and offer a fair and reasonable wage increase as part of collective agreement negotiations this year.”
“While there is a case for freezing senior management pay, restrictions on pay increases for ordinary staff aren’t necessary, justified or fair,” said Maxine.
Claims development meetings began at ANZ National and Westpac worksites this week and continue through to the end of next week.
Mary McKeown, delegate from ANZ Sydenham said their meeting provided a good opportunity to share ideas and that staff shared the same issues but from different perspectives of their different roles.
“We were very firmly of the view that we don’t want to trade away any conditions at this point,” said Mary. “We also view gaining union rights as an important objective for bargaining. It’s something the bank can do with little or no cost to them, and could be crucial given the change of government and change in industrial relations policy.”
Sydenham branch members were also very concerned about the time-consuming work of Personal Bankers that makes targets even more unachievable. “At times we feel like social workers – talking with customers not only about financial issues but about many other issues. It really does limit the time that we can spend ‘selling’ but is an important part of our work and needs to be taken into account when setting targets.”
Claims development meetings continue at Westpac and ANZ National next week and it is the right of Finsec members to attend and contribute.
If your worksite has not yet set up your claims development meetings please do so as soon as possible.
Baking and workers solidarity have been connected like never before with cake sales outside Westpac branches around the country to raise funds for and awareness of clothing workers at Lane Walker Rudkin who have lost their job and who will not be paid the redundancy compensation they are entitled to.
The receivers of textile and apparel maker Lane Walker Rudkin announced last Friday (May 15 2009) that 186 clothing workers in Christchurch and the Wairarapa would be made redundant.
The workers have been thrown out with no notice, and no money: the workers may see their last wage payments, but there is no guarantee they will see their holiday or redundancy pay.
The Westpac Union Council wrote to to the bank asking them to meet with the National Distribution Workers Union – the union for these workers and to try to protect these jobs, but to no avail.
Cake sales have been held outside Westpac banks to highlight the bank’s role, and have raised nearly $2000 to support the laid off workers.
Finsec members at ANZ National and Westpac take another step closer to bargaining with claims development meeting to start next week. The meetings will be held from 19-29 May and are part of a busy schedule of activity until bargaining starts 7 July.
Union Councils from both banks met this week to strategise. ANZ National Union Council Chairperson Cathie Lendrum said that while those in senior management roles would barely notice a pay freeze, staff at the bottom need a fair pay rise to meet their living costs.
“We will be seeking a fair and reasonable pay rise from these negotiations,” said Cathie. “The bank might try and use the recession as an excuse to minimise their own costs, but we know that not only are their profits holding up well, but that staff are working harder in order to keep the organisation profitable.”
A claims development pack will be sent to Finsec members early next week with all the information for running meetings and will also be available on www.finsec.org.nz
Westpac has introduced changes to their lending procedures that Finsec members have raised a few issues about.
These concerns include some staff being called into formal meetings in relation to minor errors, and that the new system is leading to unnecessary stress. Finsec is asking members at Westpac to let us know what your thoughts are about the new system, good or bad.
National Organiser Michael Wood says that getting good member feedback on the change is the first step to resolving any problems. “In the past, when Westpac has made changes to targets that are unrealistic or cause huge pressure, Finsec members responding collectively have been able to make change. If people respond to us on this issue we are in a much better position to make improvements.”
Michael Wood said while it was important that the bank has good standards around lending, they also needed to take into account staff views and treat staff fairly.
With some good points already received, the date has been extended so all affected staff have an opportunity to comment. Email your thoughts to michael@finsec.org.nz by next Friday 24 April.
Finsec members at Westpac are getting active in support of obtaining the travel allowance the bank agreed to in negotiations last year.
Last year it was agreed that staff moving to the new Auckland CBD site would be entitled to monetary compensation of $1000 gross for travel up to 10kms additional travelling distance. But Westpac Collections staff only recently received the travel allowance application forms, and the bank has tried to limit applications to “exceptional circumstances” – not part of the 2008 agreement.
Collections staff are collectively writing to senior management asking that all staff who are entitled to it receive the allowance.
Finsec members from Westpac in the Greater Wellington region are stepping up their campaign for fairer KPIs with a collective letter to the bank’s CEO asking him to a public meeting to discuss the issue.
After an increase to KPIs without consultation last year, Manawatu based members from Levin, Feilding, Broadway Avenue, Terrace End, Rangikikei Street and Bulls branches wrote to area managers asking for a reversal to the increase. Finsec delegate Nathan Ryba from Terrace End branch said that the impact of the rise was not just felt by individuals, but “with the majority of staff not achieving targets, it demoralises the entire workforce.”
“We would like the bank to respond with reasonable measures to address our concerns and acknowledge the pressure the workforce is under. If not, we’ve asked them to front up to a meeting to explain to staff and the public why they saw a need to increase KPIs at this time.”
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In the midst of a global international credit crisis, its important that banks focus on the big issues….like footwear.
It seems that this summer, one Westpac branch that shall remain nameless literally can’t handle the jandal and is enforcing to the letter a strict dress code that outlaws the wearing of open toed shoes, even for walking to and from work. No word yet on whether staff are toeing the line or management will flip flop.
Finsec’s sister union the Finance Sector Union is also making some unfavourable comparisons between banks’ pay and conditions , in this case between the merging St George and Westpac. Australian Westpac staff are on an agreement that expired in 2004 and contains far worse provisions than the St George agreement that expires in 2010.
St George staff have a guaranteed 4% annual pay increase, commitments to replace staff within 6 weeks, paid rest breaks and allowances for relief staff while Westpac staff enjoy none of these. St George staff also have more generous long service leave and severance pay than their new Westpac colleagues.
The FSU says its time for a new Westpac Agreement as employees in the new Group will be doing the same work under different pay and conditions.
LabourStart – act now to help other workers
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